A Medicine For New Life

A Medicine For New Life

Generally, Fulvestrant is sold under the name of Faslodex that belongs to the category of steroid. It is a kind of alkyl-sulfinyl moiety that gets added to the endogenous estrogen receptor ligand known as 17β-estradiol. Hormone receptor (HR) – positive metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women is a condition in which this has been widely recommended. In addition to this, the medicine is also effective for first or second line endocrine therapy. One thing should always be noted that its chemical structure is similar to estrogen, thus it easily gets to interact with immunoassays for blood estradiol concentrations, resulting in falsely elevation of results. The end result is improper rise that indicates discontinuing the treatment.

Talking about its mode of action, Fulvestrant is present as a selective estrogen receptor degrader. It gets binds to estrogen receptors, making its nature more hydrophobic. Thus, the receptor becomes unstable and gets misfold, resulting in degradation of normal processes occurring inside the cell. At that time, the drug steadily gets absorbed, reaching the maximum plasma concentration. Basically, Fulvestrant shows 99% of plasma bounding to both low and high density lipoproteins.

Researches show that being a steroid drug; it is very difficult to take it as a oral dosage form. Thus, in the market it is present in injection form given intramuscularly. Buttock muscles are generally chosen for giving the injection. Around 2 minutes are taken to complete the process, as this has to be injected slowly. At starting of the treatment, the frequency of dosage is once in every week that gradually minimizes to once a month. It is advised to not miss any of the schedules as it can affect the treatment process. While taking the medication, always pay attention to the doctor’s guidelines, so that no problem can occurs at the time of administration.

Yes, the offered drug also has side effects, but that is very minor. In case of any difficulty, it is advisable to contact the physician as soon as possible. The common adverse effects include:

Numbness, weakness

Burning pain

Headache, bone and joint pain, muscle ache

Nausea and vomiting

Loss of appetite

Hot flashes

Pain at the area where medicine injected

Constipation

Cough and trouble breathing

In case, an overdose happens or someone forgot to take medicine on time, at that time directly contact the health care professionals who help you in getting the instant relief. After several studies, druggist recommended some conditions in which the use of Fulvestrant is strictly prohibited. Pregnant women should stringently avoid taking the medication as it can passes into breast milk, causing harm to the unborn babies. Patients detected with liver disease, blood clotting disease and thrombocytopenia are not allowed to take the injection as it can increase the severity.